IBS&E: EXPERIMENTING WITH PROPERTIES...L’activitat que aquí es presenta l’han dut a terme a...
Transcript of IBS&E: EXPERIMENTING WITH PROPERTIES...L’activitat que aquí es presenta l’han dut a terme a...
Grup de Treball IBS&E: Inquiry Based Science in English
IBS&E
IBS&E: EXPERIMENTING
WITH SOUND PROPERTIES
UNDER WATER
Teacher’s guide
Escola: Virolai
Autores: Zoe Araus, Carol de Britos
(teachers) Mireia Brunet, Laura
Hernández (teacher assistants)
Curs: 2016-2017
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Index
Introducció .................................................................................................................................... 2
General description ....................................................................................................................... 3
IBS&E sequence ............................................................................................................................. 5
Activities ........................................................................................................................................ 6
Activity 1: What we know about sound & water ...................................................................... 6
Activity 2: Scientific questions .................................................................................................. 7
Activity 3: How to formulate hypothesis and develop the experiments .................................. 8
Activity 4: Starting with the experiments ................................................................................. 9
Activity 5: Writing the results and conclusions....................................................................... 10
Activity 6: Sharing the results ................................................................................................. 11
Annex 1 - Images ......................................................................................................................... 12
Annex 2 - Transcription of whole group conversation: ............................................................... 16
Annex 3 - Teacher materials ........................................................................................................ 17
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1.Introducció
Aquest treball s’ha realitzat en el si del grup de treball IBS&E: Inquiry Based Science in English,
resultat d’una col·laboració establerta entre el Centre de Recursos Pedagògics Específics de
Suport a la Innovació i la Recerca Educativa (CESIRE) i la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
(UAB) durant els cursos 2014-2015, 2015-2016 i 2016-2017. El grup de treball ha estat format
per Mestres de primària involucrats en projectes AICLE en ciències i formadors provinents del
CESIRE i de la UAB dels àmbits de ciències experimentals i llengua, en un model de formació i
col·laboració triàdic que s’ha difós mitjançant la publicació:
Espinet, M., Valdés-Sánchez, L., Carrillo, N., Farró, L., Martínez, R., López, N., i
Castillón, A. (2017). Promoting the Integration of Inquiry based Science and
English learning in primary education through triàdic partnerships. A A. W.
Oliveira i M. H. Weinburgh (Eds.), Science Teacher Preparation in Content-
Based Second Language Acquisition. Dordrecht: Springer. (Disponible a
http://www.springer.com/us/book/9783319435145)
El grup ha treballat durant 3 anys reflexionant sobre la integració de les pràctiques científiques
i comunicatives i portant a la pràctica a les escoles intervencions didàctiques d’AICLE que
treballen la ciència des de la indagació i la llengua des d’un enfocament comunicatiu.
L’activitat que aquí es presenta l’han dut a terme a l’escola Virolai durant el curs 2016-2017 les
mestres Zoe Araus i Carol de Britos i les estudiants del Grau d’Educació Primària en anglès de
la UAB Mireia Brunet i Laura Hernández, que hi han participat en qualitat de Teacher
Assistants.
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2.General description
Objectives
The main objectives of this project are:
• To learn the different steps of the Scientific Method.
• To be accurate when planning scientific experiments.
• To learn vocabulary related to sound.
• To use expressions when sharing ideas and opinions.
• To gain autonomy revising and assessing their own tasks.
Description of the proposal
This project is divided into 6 main parts. First of all, we ask the students to share their previous
knowledge by creating a map of concepts. This step will be useful to decide which topic of
sound we want to investigate. Once we have decided the topic, students will have to write
good scientific questions using the scaffolding given by the teacher. After that, students need
to write a hypothesis to their question. The next step is designing an experiment to prove if
their hypothesis is correct, introducing some variables. Once the experiment is planned,
students need to carry it out and record the results. Finally, they have to draw and share
conclusions to ensure all students comprehension.
Didactic and methodological aspects
During this project, students are grouped into small groups of 4-5 members. There are also
moments when the teacher is giving some advice or guides to all the students. In the final step,
each team is sharing their conclusions with the whole class.
It is recommended to use a big classroom or even an open space to implement some of the
steps mentioned before, such as carrying out the experiment.
In order to encourage our students’ autonomy and self-assessment, we give them some
resources to assess different parts of the project and complete them with all the missing
information and correct structure. One of these tools is the checklist.
Resources
In the first step, wrapping paper, post-its and stickers are needed. After this step, students use
their computer to complete all the parts of the project. First, teachers create a Presentation in
Google Drive which is shared with each small team. The students use it as a guide to follow the
steps and to write there their question, hypothesis, experiment, results and conclusions. There
are also some checklists and guides to help them to assess and complete their tasks. In order
to carry out the experiments, our students are asked to bring materials from their house.
There are explanations and some examples of this material attached.
Contents, competencies and processes worked
During this project, students improve different skills related to Coneixement i interacció amb el
món físic, Comunicació lingüística i audiovisual and Autonomia i iniciativa personal.
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Our students learn to investigate using the scientific method while they practise speaking,
listening, writing and reading in English.
Documents attached
There are several materials attached. Some of them are for the students, such as Hypothesis
checklist and Procedure checklist. There are also other documents to help teachers who
would like to develop this project, like Poster Jornades, Steps Explanation and a video
showing the process students followed to carry out the experiments. All of them were created
by Carol de Britos and Zoe Araus, with the collaboration of teacher assistants Mireia Brunet
and Laura Hernández.
Authors
This project was designed and carried out by the Science and English teachers Carol de Britos
and Zoe Araus, and the teacher assistants Mireia Brunet and Laura Hernández in Escola Virolai
during the school year 2016-17.
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3.IBS&E sequence
Scientific and discursive practices
IBS&E Teaching Unit
Educational level: 6th grade Topic: a project about sound
Scientific practices Inquiry
questions
Discourse practices
Identifying Describing Questioning Hypothesizing Explaining Justifying Argumenting Defining
Asking questions Do you think we hear the
same inside than outside
water? How do we hear?
Better? Worse? Louder?
x X
After choosing the topic of “Water, a barrier for sound”, students start asking questions they are interested on, and that they want to
answer: Do we hear the same under than outside water? Our voice is louder/ softer under water? How fish “speak” under water? The
teacher will to guide the questions, since some students may focus on the characteristics of the sound of water, and not on how is sound
heard under water. Finally, they will chose two questions to develop: “Can we hear sound underwater as outside? Can we listen better
under mineral, tap or salty water?”. Each group chooses one of the questions to work with.
Developing
and using models
What do I know about
sound? What would
happen when using
different types of water?
What do I know about
writing hypothesis?
X X X X
Students use linguistic models in order to develop appropriate hypothesis. In whole group conversation, they talk about what they think
may happen regarding the questions formulated with their own knowledge (not looking for external information). In that way, they
construct their own model of sound.
Planning and
carrying out
investigations
What do we need to do?
What materials do we
need? How are we going
to collect results? How do
we represent the data?
x X x
Students start developing their experiments according to the question they want to answer and their hypothesis. They focus on choosing
the materials and developing the procedure of the experiment. Also, they have to think carefully about the variables they are taking into
account, and so what they are going to focus on when doing the experiments; volume and clearness of sound. They also decide how to
collect the results and how to represent the data.
Analysing
interpreting
data
What has happened?
What the data tell us?
What can we say about
our initial hypothesis?
X X X
After developing the experiment, students collect the results in graphs or drawings and in written form. They have to argument why they
got some results or others.
Constructing
explanations
How can you explain
what you have found
out?
X X X
They develop some conclusions based on the results and compare them with their initial hypothesis. In order to understand better the
results obtained, they search for some theoretical information about sound and water.
Communicating How are you going to
present your findings?
X X X X
During the last session, students present their experiments to the rest of classmates. They expose their results and conclusions, and
compare them to other classmate’s results to check if they are similar or not.
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4.Activities
Activity 1: What we know about sound & water
Description of the activity:
The topic of the project is written on the whiteboard, along with the ideas about the topic that had arose previously (image 1, annex 1).
The teacher asks for new and more elaborated ideas about sound, not only single words. A whole group conversation/discussion starts. The teacher writes
the most significant ideas on the whiteboard.
Once several ideas have appeared (image 2, annex 1), students copy them on the notebook and in groups of 3 they add new ideas of their own.
Scientific practice
Students ask questions on how the sounds are heard or produced
under water; if it is the same or not than outside water.
Discursive practice
Questioning themselves; argumenting and justifying their answers; explaining their
ideas about sound and water.
Scientific demands
Students learn to differentiate between the sound OF water from
how is the sound UNDER water, which is the topic to be discussed.
Linguistic demands
Children have to make an effort in order to find the words to express their ideas in
English.
Scientific materials
No specific material is used.
Linguistic supports
Blackboard notes.
Science & English Integrated Learning Objective:
The objective of the activity is that students start to think of the topic they will be working; to see their previous ideas and knowledge, and how they
express them.
Also, during the conversation (both in whole group and in small groups) questions and doubts may appear, which lead to scientific questions (annex 2).
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Activity 2: Scientific questions
Description of the activity:
In groups of 3, students think of questions about water and sound they would like to answer (e.g.: our voice is louder/ softer under water?). Students have
to think of appropriate scientific questions according to the criteria for the elaboration of good questions, which is presented through a poster (image 4,
annex 1), so they have to reflect on the accuracy of their questions. These are written in the notebook (image 3, annex 1).
All the questions are shared with the other groups and all together decide the two most relevant ones. Then, each group chooses one of these two to do
the experiments on and write them on their notebooks.
Scientific practice
The main scientific practice of this lesson is to ask questions.
Students have to formulate them and start thinking which one they
want to base their experiments on.
Discursive practice
Students have to elaborate questions regarding the topic they have decided to work
on. Also, they have to argument and justify these questions.
Scientific demands
Students need to formulate questions taking into account the
demands of scientific questions: is it testable? Does it contain
variables?
Linguistic demands
Children have to focus on the elaboration of appropriate questions, which
sometimes is difficult for them. Moreover they have to make an effort in order to
find the words to express their ideas in English.
Scientific materials
No specific material is used.
Linguistic supports
Students can consult their notebooks, where they can find how appropriate
questions are written, plus how bad ones are written as well. They can also take a
look at the ideas about sound & water they previously came up with, so to get ideas
for questions.
Science & English Integrated Learning Objective:
The aim of this activity is that students start to reflect on what they are more interested to learn about the topic of water as a barrier for sound, and
consequently elaborate questions. Not only that, but questions have to be scientific, so they have to think if they fit into what is understood as a good
scientific question (which has been worked on previous sessions).
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Activity 3: How to formulate hypotheses and develop the experiments
Description of the activity:
In the previous session students have developed the hypotheses and planned the experiments to answer the questions. Since the hypotheses and
experiments are colloquial and not accurate, the teacher decides to give an explanation using a powerpoint (annex 3) as a support. She provides some
examples of appropriate hypotheses and experiments, and some guidelines to compare students’ productions with scientific criteria.
During this session children have to read the powerpoint and explain what they have understood both in Catalan and in English. Then the teacher extends
the explanation and students have to copy the most important information on their notebooks.
Scientific practice
Asking questions about what they can improve from their previous
hypotheses and experiments.
Using models of appropriate hypotheses and experiments to
improve their own.
Discursive practice
Questioning themselves about the hypotheses and experiments developed;
comparing their hypotheses and experiments with the models given by the teacher;
argumenting which changes can be performed to improve the work done.
Scientific demands
How to create hypotheses and how to plan experiments, both in a
scientific way.
Linguistic demands
Read, translate, explain, write hypotheses and experiments.
Scientific materials
No specific material is used.
Linguistic supports
Powerpoint presentation, which includes guidelines on how to elaborate appropriate
hypotheses and experiments (annex 3), Google drive and online translator.
Science & English Integrated Learning Objective:
The aim of this session is for students to reflect on how to write appropriate hypotheses and experiments; from the scientific perspective, by following the
scientific method, and from the linguistic perspective, by using accurate vocabulary to the situation presented.
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Activity 4: Starting with the experiments
Description of the activity:
Students test their hypotheses and procedures using the assessment tables they have been provided with. Afterwards, they reformulate the hypothesis and
the experiment procedure (image 5, annex 1) and make sure they are correct according to the criteria.
Groups start doing their experiments and write down the results.
Scientific practice
Children finish formulating their hypotheses. Also, they plan and carry out their
experiments establishing the different variables they have check and how they will
collect the results.
Discursive practice
Children describe the steps of the procedure and correct them
by answering the questions they have in the assessment tables.
Also, children explain and justify their experiments.
Scientific demands
Students reformulate the hypotheses and design their experiments. Afterwards, they
carry out these and collect the results.
Linguistic demands
Write down the hypotheses and explain the experiments.
Scientific materials
The materials students use for the experiment are: a bowl; salty, mineral and tap water;
and finally, two spoons or knives.
Linguistic supports
PowerPoint presentation (annex 3) and Google drive.
Science & English Integrated Learning Objective:
The main purpose of this lesson is for students to write appropriate hypotheses and experiments. Also, they carry out the experiments and collect the
results obtained.
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Activity 5: Writing the results and conclusions
Description of the activity:
Once students have finished their experiments, it is time to write down the results. Results have to be exposed in two ways: a graphical one (students can
choose drawings, tables, graphs…) (image 6, annex 1) and a written one, with a brief sentence that summarizes the results. For the results of the
experiments, students take into account the loudness and the clearness of the sound. The teacher presents a PowerPoint that serves as an example for the
students to know how to write appropriately the results.
Then they expose the conclusions of the research. Students generally write conclusions as a repetition of results of the experiment, but the teacher explains
the elements that have to be included within the conclusion: the question, the hypothesis, if the hypothesis is correct compared with the experiment
results, and the experiment carried out. (Image 7, annex 1). Students are also provided with models of proper conclusions so to compare them with their
own (annex 3).
During this session, the role of the teacher is to go group by group revising the work done by students, answering their doubts, making suggestions and
helping with difficulties.
Scientific practice
Using models to compare their productions and make them as
accurate as possible; analysing and interpreting the data obtained
from the experiment, in order to reach to results and conclusions;
constructing explanations that will be part of the conclusions.
Discursive practice
Questioning the results obtained on the experiment; comparing their writing to
that of models; comparing their hypotheses with the results of the experiment;
explaining the results of the experiment; argumenting and justifying why their
results are ones or others and why they match or not the hypotheses.
Scientific demands
Reflect on the results obtained from the experiment; expose the
results; revise the whole experience in order to write conclusions.
Linguistic demands
Compare their productions with the models; discuss with the group; communicate
in English among them; write results and conclusions in an appropriate format and
with appropriate vocabulary.
Scientific materials
No specific scientific material is used.
Linguistic supports
PowerPoint with models (annex 3) and Google drive.
Science & English Integrated Learning Objective:
The objective of this session is for students to develop the results of the experience, based on the evidences of the experiment they previously collected.
Not only that, but they have to reflect on these results in order to develop accurate scientific conclusions that include a brief review of all the experience
done and a comparison between their hypotheses and the results. All this processes have to be exposed in a clear way using English language.
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Activity 6: Sharing the results
Description of the activity:
Students in groups present the results and conclusions of their experiments to the rest of the class. They also explain the experiment if it is necessary to
better understand the information. To do this, the written project is shown in the white board and one member of the group reads the main points to their
classmates. There are three aspects which are assessed by the teacher, and which she shares at the beginning of the class: writing (of the project), sharing
(how it is explained to the class) and attention (when other groups present their projects).
When each group finishes, other members of the class ask questions or participate creating a debate. They also compare the results among the different
groups and try to understand why some are different.
On the second part of the class, students complete their notebook with some extra information about the scientific process and search for information
trying to justify why some results are different.
Scientific practice
Students, in this session, analyse and interpret the results of their
experiments. Also, construct some explanations of the results
obtained.
Finally, children share and compare their findings with their
classmates and justify why results are different.
Discursive practice
Students describe the steps they have followed to carry out their experiments.
Also they explain and justify their results, and argument their final conclusions.
In this case, they share and communicate all the information they have found
while doing the experiments by reading what they have previously written.
Scientific demands
In this case, students had to share the results and conclusions of their
experiments with their classmates and compare the results among the
different groups.
Linguistic demands
Students share their results and conclusions. So, children communicate using
English when sharing this information, and also when addressing to the teacher
and to their classmates.
Scientific materials
No scientific materials used.
Linguistic supports
Powerpoint with extra information (annex 3).
Science & English Integrated Learning Objective:
The objective of this session is for students to share the conclusions of the experiment, based on the results they have obtained. Also, they have to compare
them with the other groups and justify why some are different. All this had to be done using appropriate English as the main way of communication.
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5. Annex Annex 1 - Images
Image 1 Key concepts related to the topic of water and sound. Activity 1.
Image 2 Key concepts related to the topic appeared during the discussion. Activity 1.
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Image 3 Questions developed by students about water as a barrier for
sound. Activity 2.
Image 4 Descriptors for the elaboration of good scientific questions. Activity 2.
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Image 6 Collecting data after doing the experiment. Activity 5
Image 5 Students revise and reformulate the procedure before developing the
experiment. Activity 4
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Image 7 Conclusions written by the students after doing the experiment. Activity 5
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Annex 2 - Transcription of whole group conversation:
In this activity, the role of the teacher is to ask questions to make students think deeper, to
clarify ideas, to add helpful information and to summarize the most important ideas
mentioned. She acts as a guide, since her interventions are oriented to direct the conversation
towards the topic of the project.
• Student: There are sounds that can travel through water but others can’t.
• S: Fish hear some sounds under the water.
• S: Quan esquitxes (l’aigua) fa soroll.
• Teacher: Podem sentir l’esquitxada sota l’aigua?
• S: Si.
• T: Per tant podem sentir alguns sons sota l’aigua.
• S: We don’t hear the same way under the water.
• T: That’s really interesting. How do we hear? Better? Worse? Louder?
• (students start thinking about the topic and ideas connected to this statement
appear)
• S: Through shells we hear water.
• S 1: The sea makes sound.
• S 2: Water from fishbowl makes sound.
• T: Yes, you are true, but all these ideas are not really about the topic. We should focus
on how do we hear the sounds under the water, not on how is the sound of water.
• S 1: When we go inside water we don’t hear nothing of the outside.
• S 2: Inside water we hear “més suau.”
• S 3: Softer?
• T: Maybe weaker?
• (linguistic difficulties happen sometimes).
• S 1: Inside water, whales’ sound is longer.
• S 2: When you are inside water, if you play an instrument you hear it for a longer
distance.
• T: Sound travel further inside water.
• S 3: Water is more dense (than air).
• T: So sound travels further inside water because of density.
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Annex 3 - Teacher materials
Hypothesis, Experiment procedure, Results and
Conclusions
How to write a hypothesis
A hypothesis is an answer to a scientific question. When we already have our scientific question, we can look for information about the topic and discuss with our group partners. Finally, with the information and ideas that we know, we have to write a tentative answer (or educated guess) to our question.
ATTENTION! Check your hypothesis!
Is your hypothesis testable with the experiment? YES NO
Is it based on your ideas and information? YES NO
Were you discussing your ideas in group? YES NO
Does it include an independent variable (the one we change) and a dependent variable (the one is fixed)?
YES NO
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Example of questions and hypothesis
Is it numbered? YES NO
Is it written in infinitive (cut, stick, fill, check, write…) ? YES NO
Is it so detailed that anyone could reapeat this experiment? YES NO
Is the number of repetitions included? YES NO
Is there an explanation about how to measure the results in the dependent variable?
YES NO
ATTENTION! Check your procedure!
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Example of experiment materials and procedure
Dependent and Independent variables
The 2 main variables in an experiment are the:
- Independent variable: it’s the variable that we change.
- Dependent variable: it’s the variable that we are testing and measuring.
We change the independent variable to see the effects on the dependent variable.
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How to write conclusions The conclusion is a summary of the research and the results of the experiment. This is
where you answer your research question. You make a statement of whether your data
supported your hypothesis or not.